BOSTON — Had Jarome Iginla been hanging his head over that regrettable piece of defense he played against Darren Helm that led to Detroit's only goal in the Bruins' 4-1, Game 2 victory Sunday at TD Garden, he never would have had his head screwed on right five minutes later when it mattered just as much.

MICK COLAGEO

BOSTON — Had Jarome Iginla been hanging his head over that regrettable piece of defense he played against Darren Helm that led to Detroit's only goal in the Bruins' 4-1, Game 2 victory Sunday at TD Garden, he never would have had his head screwed on right five minutes later when it mattered just as much.

In a one-goal game and late in a period in which his team was getting outplayed, Iginla took a pass from Torey Krug and took off with it, drawing a defender and feeding the puck perfectly to Milan Lucic for the desperately needed strike that restored Boston's two-goal cushion 1:44 before the second intermission. When the teams returned for the third period, the spark was back in Boston's game, and Wings defenseman Kyle Quincey was in the penalty box for roughing when Krug and Iginla combined again to assist at 2:27 as Zdeno Chara put the game out of reach with a power-play goal.

One play.

Did Game 2 turn on it? Perhaps, although a playoff game tends to have many turning points, and it's up to the competitors to stay dialed in and ready to have a say in the outcome.

"You try to stay positive and it's playoffs, and you're playing pretty good players on the other side, and unfortunately sometimes you do make the mistakes, and thankfully you get another chance to be out there and try to make up for it," said Iginla after the game. "You definitely don't want to dwell on it, and it's hard not to get down on yourself, but it's part of playoffs."

Helm was at the right point midway through the second period when he teased Iginla, then pulled it around the Bruins winger, his shot deflecting off of linemate Luke Glendening to make it 2-1.

It was a nervous time at TD Garden. The Red Wings were on their way to outshooting the Bruins 13-6 in the second period, seemingly only one more good shot away from making it their game.

Iginla's resolution to face forward proved crucial.

"It's not really an each-line thing or whatever, but it definitely feels good if you can get things going in the right direction as a line and feel like you're contributing," said Iginla. "And, like I said, you're playing good guys on the other side and, really, every goal there's breakdowns and, unfortunately, that was a big breakdown by myself. But it was sure nice to see Looch get that goal back at the end of the second. It was nice to see that go in."

Iginla's stick-to-it-iveness is vital at a time when young players like Dougie Hamilton are in big positions and vulnerable to scenarios like the one Iginla faced on Sunday.

It was only a year ago that Hamilton was a dejected young man after getting beat for an overtime game-winning goal by Chris Kreider in New York. He never saw the ice again in those playoffs.

When slot-crashing Justin Abdelkader took Hamilton off his feet on Pavel Datsyuk's game winner on Friday, it became the latest test to the young player's mettle. He skated 14:15 on Sunday, Boston's lowest total by a defenseman.

The teams that tend to go deep in the playoffs are the ones that shake off the worst of it and show up for the next game disaffected by their wins, their losses and especially goals against that they feel responsible for. Some take a long time to recover.

"I think we all can and that's what we all try not to (let happen)," said Iginla. "Our coaching staff is great for that, too. We are going to make some mistakes, and you can't worry about making mistakes in the playoffs.

"As a player you want to get back out there and try to delete it and be better going forward, but definitely we feel that we do and, like I say, it's not always easy but fortunately tonight things turned around and it feels good to tie that (series) up 1-1."

Hamilton has played brilliant hockey in the top defense pairing for a 20-year-old, and without him maintaining his confidence level it's difficult to imagine a repeat of the playoff success the Bruins enjoyed last year with a healthy Dennis Seidenberg — and Andrew Ference — in their lineup.

Team president Cam Neely said it after the Bruins won the Stanley Cup in 2011: "I have no rearview mirror."

Neither does Iginla, and that can only help young players like Hamilton learn to misplace theirs.

Mick Colageo covers hockey for The Standard-Times. Contact him at mcolageo@s-t.com, visit Rink Rap at blogs.southcoasttoday.com/bruins and follow on Twitter @Mick Colageo.